Rates from Bankrate.com

JCPenney Shines, Amazon Slumps in Retail

NEW YORK (TheStreet) - JCPenney's stock was among a small handful of retail stock winners on Friday after legendary investor George Soros revealed he owns an 8% stake in the struggling retailer.

JCP shares were rising 8.4% to $16.52 just before midday on Friday.

After the market closed on Thursday, Soros Fund Management disclosed in a Securities and Exchange Commission 13G filing, dated April 15, that it owned 17.4 million shares, representing a 7.91% stake in the retailer's stock.

Soros seems to be either placing a long-term bet on JCP's turnaround after the company reinstated Myron "Mike" Ullman as CEO replacing Ron Johnson or he could be looking to make a profit -- at the expense of retail investors, according to TheStreet's Rocco Pendola.

Also in retail, home improvement companies Home Depot and Lowe's were moving higher. Shares of Home Depot rose 0.3% to $73.61. The stock had hit a new 52-week-high earlier on Tuesday of $74.59. Lowe's stock was also up 0.2% to $37.88.

Big discount retailers including Wal-Mart, Sears, Target and TJX Companies, the owner of TJMaxx, Home Goods and Marshalls, were also on positive ground

The Bureau of Economic Analysis said that U.S. GDP increased 2.5% in the first quarter after rising 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Analysts, on average, were expecting 3% growth, according to a Thomson Reuters poll.

Online retail giant Amazon shed more than 6% on Friday. Wall Street is becoming increasingly cautious about the stock, following mixed earnings results on Thursday, as TheStreet's Chris Ciaccia explains.

Amazon's stock was down 7% to $255.45 at last look on more than double the average daily trading volume.